Improvement in the distillation of hydrocarbon oils



L. ATWOOD. 1

l MANUFAGTURE 0F OILS. A

No. 27,767. Patented Apr. 10, 1860.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUTHER Arvvoon'or NEW YORK, N, Y.

IMPROVEMENT LN THE- DISTILLATION 0F HYDROCARBON `en s.

Speciicaton forming part of Letters Patent No. 27,767, dat-ed April 10, 1860.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUTHER ATWooD, of the city, county, and State of' New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Oils; and I do hereby declare that the following isa fulland exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming apart otthisrsche'lule, and to the letters of reference thereon.

In the distillationof hydrocarbon oils at a yhigh temperature cast-iron stills are used.,

which become heated during the operation to a red heat, and it has heretofore been the practiceto remove the fire after the completion of` stills.

The naturev of the lirst part of my invention consists in introducing into a hydrocarbon or volatile oil still after the completion of the distillation steam from a steamlboiler through any suitable pipe or inlet in sufficient quantities to expel through any suitable-outlet they oleaginous vapors and iixed gases remaining in the still, and also to rapidly cool the still sufficiently to permit ofthe immediate removal of the carbonaceous residue.

The second part of my invent-ion consists in introducinginto the still after the residue is removed and the man-holes covered and luted, and before charging the still with crude oil, stieam from a steam-boiler through any suitable inlet or pipe in suiiicient quantities to expel through any suitable outlet the atmosA pheric air from the hot still, preparatory to the admission of the charge of oil, and for the purpose of .preparing a hot still for the introduction of a charge 0f oil without danger of .ignition or explosion.

In' order to more particularly describe my i'n'zention, I Will'r'efer to the annexed drawings, which represent astill of improved construction the subject ofcontemporaneous Letters Patent of tbe United States to me, and which-show the form of apparatus I consider most convenient and best adapted to embody and carry out the invention herein described. I do not, however, intend to limit myself to the use of this form of construction therein shown, but will use any'convenient form of construction that will enable nie-to practice imy'invention.

Figure No. l of the drawings .represents a plan view ofthe still; Fig. No. 2, a front elevation; Fig. No. 3, a horizontal section throughV dott-ed lines .r a', Fig. 2; Fig. No. 4, ahorizontal section through dotted lines y y, Fig. 2; Fig. No. 5, a transverse section through dottedlines .r .-r, Fig. l; Fig. No; 6.a vertical longitudinal section through dotted lines y y, Fig. 1.

' Having described minutely the construction and operation of the still represented by the above mentioned drawings in contemporaneous Letters Patent, I will only describe in this specification such parts as are immediatelyy connected with the invention herein described.

Letter A represent-s the body or boiler of a still; B, a pipe connecting the Worin-condens- 'er with the dome of the `still through the angie-valve or shut-off C.

D is a weighted safety-valve on the 'dome of the still, connecting by the blow-off pipe E with the main F, from which opens the discharge-pipe G. The stem of-the safety-valve is fitted t-o receive the slotted Weight D and terminates in a ring-handle, by which it ma`y be lifted and hooked onto the hook D2. When thus lifted, there is afree passa-gc from the still through the safety-valve, blow-off pipe E, main F, and discharge-pipe G to the open air.

II 'H are` two man holes in the top of the still furnished with suitable covers and fasteningw. Letter I represents a funnel-pipe p`rovided ivith a stop-cock opening into the top of the still, and J a pipe provided. with a stopcock. (Shown broken off, but designed to con nect t-he lstill with a reservoir of unnished oil.)

Letter K is a steam-pipe furnished with a stop-cock. The lower end of this pipe ente-rs the still, connecting with a steam-boiler by a' -l-coupling 4and steam pipe. L. (Shown broken off.) XVhile the still is in action the Apose of reducing the temperature.

anglevalve C in the passage between the still and condenser is `kept open and the passage 'to the open air closed by the safety-valve. When the distillation is finished, the fire must be dampened or temporarily removed, the passage to the condenser closed by shutting the angle-valve C, the weight removed from the safety-valve, and the valve lifted up and hooked on bythe ring-handle to the hook D, affording a free passage lfrom withinthe still to the open air. rlhe stop-cock in the steampipe K is then turned and steam admitted into the still in suiicient quantity to drive out the vapors and gases remaining in .the still. When the steam blows -out clear and undiscolored from the discharge-pipe G, the steam may be turned off, or be allowedto continue passing tbl-rough the still for a short time for the pur- Themanholes must now be opened, and the-carbona ceous residue immediately removedfrom the bottom of the still by means of ong-handled picks, scrapers, and scoops. the operator standing on the top of the still, it beingto hot to enter. Iftlrie distillationfbe not carried to the point of carbonization, which I prefer to do in order ,to obtain thefwhole product, the liqnidresidue may be removed by a suitable withdrawal pipe before turning onthe' steam.

When the residue'is removed, the man-holes 'mustbe covered, luted, and securedyand the steam again turned on andV .continued until the atmospheric air and the smoke arisingA from the ignition of remaining particles of coke is expelledfrom the still. The safctyvalve is lthen to belet downto its seat and' Weighted, thepassage to the condenser opened by raising the angle-valve G,- the charge of oil admitted into lthe still through the reserv .voir-pipe .I or funnel I, and the steam turned off and lire actively applied to the still.

` I consider that steam 'at a pressure of from forty to sixty pounds to the superficial inch of steam-boiler surface best adapted to the purposes above described; but steam of any suficient degree of elasticity to expel the matters above described from the still may be used.

By 'the use of steam as above described I a'n enabled to make successive distillations in the same still at a high temperature without loss of time other than necessary to remove the residue and charge the still and the time required for the rst and second applications of the steam, which-is not more than thirty minutes for each application.

The utility of my invention will be apparent to manufacturers using largel cast-iron oilstills, which, in consequence of the thickness of material and the resident heat in the surrounding brick-work, require about twentyfour hours time to cool naturally before the temperature is sufficiently reduced toadmit of introducing the charge of oil without danger of ignition or explosion.

' By the Vuse of steam as above described .in preparing the still for the reception of the charge oil is safely admitted into the still when the still is at such atemperature that without the presence of the steam the oil would ignite and perhaps an explosion occur.

What l claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, 1s-

The use of steam in preparing a hot still for the safe admission of a charge of oil, substantially as described.

LUTHER ATWooD.

Witnesses:

v F. C. TREADWELL, Jr., DANIEL M. OBRIEN. 

